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Santouka and Miyabitei in the Mitsuwa Marketplace Food Court

Not only is this one of the largest Japanese food store (besides the Marukai down the street), the food court is enough to satisfy ALL, and I do mean ALL, standard Japanese street food cravings.

Getting down to business:

My sister’s chicken cutlet curry (Miyabitei) $6.75 lunch special

Sorry for the scrappy salad, it actually covered the entire third of the plate but my sister chopsticks were quicker at the draw than my shutter. Fried chicken steak topped with brown curry on a bed of rice accompanied by a side of red pickles and basic iceberg lettuce salad. I had but a bite, but it was very good, plump and moist chicken with a thin layer of breading. The curry was even better, perhaps cooked with chicken stock? It was savory and thick, and the taste stuck to my tastebuds better than gravy.

My tonkatsu egg bowl with miso soup and cold tofu (Miyabitei) $8-9

Underneath that eggy goodness was a pretty thick piece of tonkastu, fried pork cutlet that was drenched in a sweet sauce and mixed with stewed onions. Not typical tonkatsu, but specific to this dish, the flavor soaked pork was a bit too soggy for me, but the fullness of flavor definitely made things better. The cold tofu was covered in fish flakes, green onions and a sweet teriyaki-like sauce. The miso seemed like standard miso.

The star of the show

Tonkotsu ramen and fish roe rice bowl combo (Santouka)

This was my mom’s order, but I and my sister ended up licking up the last bits of the ramen. I’m not much for fish eggs so I didn’t try it.

This is the best ramen I have ever had in my life. It beats all the ramen places in Rowland/Hacienda Heights, nothing can top this. The slices of fatty pork are substantially thick, not paper thin slices like at other places. The broth is perfect. The meatiness there is strong and prominent, but without leaving that thick film of grease on your lips. The broth is a rich cloudy brown that hides the noodles underneath. They really achieved the best balance of the fatty broth with pure flavor that results in a silky smooth spoonful of noodles.

Prices are decent, but if you account for the quality of food, you get much more than what you pay for.